LOUISVILLE, Ky. — An autopsy report on a Ky. fire chief. says that he died from drug and alcohol intoxication, rather than cardiac disease as was first reported.
Fire Chief Wilkinson, 44, of the Lake Dreamland Fire Department, suffered a medical emergency and died at his home April 13 just hours after responding to a brush fire.
A coroner’s report released last week showed Chief Wilkinson had both cocaine and alcohol in his system, which caused his death, according to the Courier-Journal. It listed heart disease as a significant contributing factor.
The new Jefferson County fire chief, Freddie George, told the Courier-Journal that all of the fire district’s board of trustees members were in “100 percent total shock” from the autopsy results.
A committee is reviewing Chief Wilkinson’s death to see if he may be eligible for death benefits and if his family may be granted benefits to firefighters who die in the line of duty as Chief Wilkinson had battled the brush fire the previous day.